Beauty Without Cruelty

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1986-1996

With specific goals in mind BWC has sincerely carried out its work, however kept a low profile. Most tasks undertaken have been difficult, often seemed impossible to achieve, but frustration has never made the organization give up. Sticking to facts, a persistent follow-up and constantly looking for new ways to achieve its aims has led BWC to success in many instances.

1986

Lesser Birds Released
BWC explained to Jains who attended lectures organised by the society under the patronage of their Munis that birds bought and released from their cages outside Jain temples have been seen to fall exhausted to the ground after initially soaring into the sky. Such birds trapped from the wild a week or so earlier, brought to cities, with little or no food and water, never survive in urban areas devoid of vegetation. Therefore, by buying such birds (for release) a demand is created and money made available for the trade to continue. In 1986 due to a lesser number of birds being bought, very few bird-sellers were seen outside Jain temples.

1987

Export of Frogs’ Legs Banned
BWC relentlessly spent over a decade convincing the Government of India to stop exporting frogs’ legs, an exotic food in the West. The ban finally came into force in 1987. Facts such as the barbaric manner in which the frogs’ hind legs were chopped off and the ecological imbalance created were stressed.

1988

Greyhound Coursing
1988 BWC persuaded the Government to ban the use of live hare for greyhound coursing in Punjab.

1989

Karakul Lamb Project Closed
BWC was able to achieve unimaginable success when after a period of 13 years when in 1989 the Indian Council of Agricultural Research reluctantly gave in to BWC’s pleas and scrapped their Karakul lamb project. Karakul lambs imported from the former USSR were being bred for slaughter within 48 hours of their birth. In order to forestall Karakul lamb farming in the country, BWC purchased the entire flock of sheep which were shifted to Deesa in Gujarat where they lived out their natural lifespan.

Animal Sacrifice Abandoned
In 1989 BWC persuaded the Catholic Church to stop the age old barbaric custom of teenage boys biting a piglet to death at Terekol, Goa in celebration of St John’s Baptism.

Column on Animal Rights
Twice for over a year, a weekly column on Animal Rights appeared in the Gujarati newspaper Mumbai Samachar. This column discontinued in 1989 helped in creating a great awareness of the aims and work of BWC.

1990

Animal Performances
The very first guidelines for animals used in films were drafted in 1990 by BWC for the Animal Welfare Board of India. BWC feels all animal performances in circuses, films or on the roadside can never be achieved without training which in itself is unnatural and cruel.

1991

Circuses without Animals
BWC believes in circuses without animals. In 1991 the Ministry of Environment & Forests (Government of India) requested BWC to prepare a comprehensive report on ‘Circuses of India’. The Government of India used this report as evidence in the High Court Case wherein the Indian Circus Federation obtained a stay order on the Notification banning the use of tigers, lions, panthers, bears and monkeys in circuses. In 2001 the Supreme Court upheld a Kerala High Court judgement that prohibits circuses from training or using these five species of animals.

Amendments to The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972
BWC gave the Ministry of Environment & Forests (Government of India) a number of suggestions for amending The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Almost all the points raised by BWC including ban on hunting of wild life were incorporated in the new legislation entitled The Wildlife (Protection) Act 1991.

Wildlife Items Destroyed
For the first time ever in order to bring down the demand for animal products and not put seized wildlife items back into circulation, BWC in collaboration with the Chief Wildlife Warden, Delhi and the Government of India organized a Bonfire in 1991 when goods worth Rs 7,000,000 were destroyed.

Export Ban on Birds
In 1991, in response to BWC’s representations, all birds were shifted to the Banned List of the Export policy. [Unfortunately, in 1997 the export of exotic birds of foreign origin was reopened.]

1992

Ivory Trade Banned
For years BWC strongly objected to the Government’s policy of permitting trade in ivory of African origin. BWC felt that all elephants should be protected – not only our Indian elephants. Finally, the Government in 1992 imposed a total ban in trade in ivory, whether African or Indian, for export or for internal consumption.

1993

‘Pet’ Libraries Closed
In 1993 BWC created awareness about the ‘unique’ Pet Libraries which had sprouted up in a few cities and were enthusiastically but unthinkingly supported by animal lovers. They took pride in loaning live creatures like dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, tortoise, fish, snakes and birds (parrots & mynas), all given swanky names; the whole affair was dealt with no differently from borrowing books from a library. BWC pointed out that the ‘pets’ go through enormous psychological strain, being shifted from one home to another and handled by umpteen humans. Within a short period of time the libraries closed down.

1994

Film Censored
In 1994 BWC convinced the Central Board of Film Certification to censor certain parts of the film Betaaj Badshah in which the mouth of a leopard had been stitched for its performance.

BWC Investment Guide
In 1994 BWC published its first edition of its Investment Guide. Companies quoted on the Stock Exchange were categorized as per BWC criteria and listed accordingly.

1995

Halting Clandestine Trade in Wildlife
In 1995, BWC convinced the Central Zoo Authority that animal carcasses should be disposed off and not auctioned and put back into circulation. Accordingly, the CZA issued a directive to all zoos in India that disposal of carcasses should be either burying or burning and that none of them should be skinned or made into trophies as it encourages clandestine trade in wildlife.

1996

Camel Joyrides Banned
In 1996 BWC played a leading role in obtaining a High Court ruling to stop the entry of camels into Mumbai and rehabilitated the existing ones in the Rajasthan desert so that the ‘joy rides’ on Juhu Beach became history.

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